Introduction
The "dragon robe" originated from the Tang Dynasty, became in the Yuan Ming, and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. When it comes to the dragon robe, we are obviously not unfamiliar with it, as a symbol of the royal family, the dragon robe has a more complex set of tattoos. In other words, many of the costumes that we think are dragon robes, in fact, in ancient times, they were not dragon robes at all, but only dragon robes, bullfighting suits, flying fish costumes and the like. So how should this category of dragon pattern costumes be distinguished?
The origin of the dragon robe
Since Qin Shi Huang unified the country so far, the costume system he has opened up is mostly closely centered on shaping his absolute authority, and his costumes are all made in accordance with the style of "King's Gong Costume Grand Crown" in the Zhou Li, and on this set of Gun costumes, it contains the pattern of "dragon", which represents one of the symbols of the status of the emperor in ancient Chinese feudal society. Because Qin Shi Huang greatly respected the theory of yang and yin, he based on the Five Elements Theory of the Western Zhou Dynasty and determined that the emperor was earthy and honored pale yellow. But at this time, there was still no "dragon robe".
Since the Tang Dynasty, the "dragon pattern" has been embroidered on the emperor's robes as a key pattern, according to the Book of Tang dynasty And emperor's Chronicle: "November of the eighth year ... Xun Ju Zhicheng, in Youzhou, is served by the Dragon Phoenix, outside the Mountains of the Stream"
Until the Yuan Dynasty, the dragon pattern robe became a special thing for the imperial family, and the Ming Dynasty", which records that the ming emperor's winter clothes and Yan Ben clothes were dominated by dragon patterns. It can be seen that in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, there was still no real "dragon robe", but only a robe containing a dragon pattern.
In fact, the dragon robe is specifically used as the emperor's suit, and the historical time is not too long, originating from the Ming Dynasty 600 years ago. The dragon robe is the daily dress of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which is made of pale yellow Aya luo, with a collar, a right side, and a dragon-shaped pattern embroidered on the top.
The various dragon patterns on the dragon robe are different from previous dynasties. The dragon robe is generally embroidered with nine dragons: three on the front and back of the left and right bodies, one on the upper and lower shoulders, and one hidden in the clothes, so there are five on the front and back, which is in line with the "Nine-Five Dignity" of the imperial throne.
The first thing that can be remembered in our minds is the Yellow Dragon Robe, which has basically become the symbol of the Emperor in the old thought. But why is Huizong's portrait dressed without tattoos of gold junmei? Is it true that Emperor Huizong could not wear the Yellow Dragon Robe? This is a very worthy discussion. It contains two parts, one is the yellow robe, the other is the dragon pattern on the robe, how and when did it become the emperor's suit in the definition of Chinese?
Why didn't the emperor of the Song Dynasty wear dragon robes
In fact, during the Northern Song Dynasty, no yellow robes embroidered with dragon patterns such as those worn in Li Shimin's portrait were found. According to the investigation, this type of dragon-patterned imperial robe first occurred in a wall painting of an emperor's tomb in the Jin Dynasty. The clothes worn by Emperor Wenzong and Emperor Mingzong of the Yuan Dynasty were also embroidered with dragon patterns, although they were not the same as the dragon-patterned yellow robes we remembered, but they were already very close.
Therefore, we have the basis to infer that this kind of imperial robe embroidered with dragon patterns is likely to be produced in the Song Dynasty, and then digested and absorbed by the Jin Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, and carried forward by the Ming Dynasty.
The simple and simple clothing of the emperors of the Song Dynasty is actually related to the aesthetics of the Song Dynasty. After the artistic aesthetics of the Tang Dynasty became popular, the artistic aesthetics of the Song Dynasty stepped into the "simple" road. It can be seen from the pottery that the Tang Dynasty loved the colorful Tang Sancai, and the Song Dynasty loved independence, and the color was very simple.
The pursuit of perfect simplicity of objects, the design of clothing decoration must not be easy to be fancy, clothes on the left a pattern, the right a pattern, in the Song Dynasty to see: tacky! And the Song Dynasty advocated thrift and thrift, money should be spent on the blade, if the emperor spent a large price on the design of clothing decoration, he had been drowned by the spit of the crowd of scholars. Therefore, we have heard the feeling that the emperor in ancient times, the nine-five-year-old emperor, had to wear a dragon pattern!
In general, the emperor of the Song Dynasty did not wear a dragon robe, on the one hand, it was the limitation of the new era, only the embroidery of the "dragon pattern", there was still no dragon robe costume, the symbol of the "dragon" began in the early days of Chinese feudal society, and the "dragon robe" began to date back to the Tang Dynasty, developed in the Yuan Ming, strong in the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China also had Yuan Shikai wearing the dragon robe; on the other hand, the Song Dynasty respected the ceremony of Yao Shunyu, with the crown as the representative of the monarchy, and could only wear the self-esteem and influence that symbolized the emperor's self-esteem and influence when holding worship, registration and other major theme activities. Commonly used plain winter clothes, the pursuit of perfect comfort and simplicity, it is precisely in this way that it can highlight the gentle and elegant aesthetic requirements of the Song Dynasty, and it is also a transcendence of personality traits that attach importance to the concept of personal life.
epilogue
In today's society, the connotation of the dragon introduces the charm of the new era, which represents the sons and daughters of China and represents a kind of Chinese culture and art. Today's Europeans understand China according to the dragon pattern clothing, in their eyes, the dragon represents China, represents China's unique culture and art, represents the aesthetic conception of Chinese style, and represents the condensation of the Diligence and Wisdom of the Chinese people. Chinese culture and art have the characteristics of eclecticism and eclecticism.
Therefore, today's dragon pattern is developed on the basis of inheritance, inherited in the whole process of development, broken and new, closely combining "change" and "harmony", introducing new charm to Chinese culture and art, promoting "dragon pattern" to the world, and having a great impact on global clothing.